Sporting Kansas City’s Alan Pulido speaks during MLS soccer media day in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023.
AP
On Friday, the Group Stage pairings were announced for the inaugural edition of Leagues Cup 2023, which will feature Sporting Kansas City in a group with one of the top teams in North America.
Also … a homecoming of sorts.
Sporting Kansas City was placed in Group 3 of the Central Region, along with FC Cincinnati, the upstart MLS club that qualified for the playoffs for the first time in 2022, as well as 12-time LIGA MX champion Chivas Guadalajara.
There are four regions at the event: West (three groups), Central (four groups), South (four groups) and East (four groups), with each group holding three teams. Each team will play two matches in the Group Stage, with the top two teams advancing to the Round of 32. Two teams — MLS champion LAFC and LIGA MX’s Pachuca — have received a bye into the Knockout Stage.
Leagues Cup 2023, an official Concacaf competition, will feature all 47 clubs from LIGA MX and MLS in what was described in the release as a “World Cup-style tournament from July 21 to Aug. 19 with the champion, as well as the second- and third-place finishers, qualifying for the Concacaf Champions League.”
In the Group Stage, Sporting KC will play host to Chivas at Children’s Mercy Park, pitting standout Alan Pulido — who is returning from an injury that held him out in 2022 — against his former club. Pulido starred for Chivas from 2016-19.
Chivas won the 2018 Concacaf Champions League and has previously faced Sporting in Kansas City in 2011 (2-2 draw) and Mexico in 2009 (1-1 draw). Sporting will also make the trip to Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium for the other Group Stage match.
Leagues Cup 2023 will be streamed on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app. In addition, per the release, TelevisaUnivision and FOX Sports will broadcast select matches, with the final airing on Univision.
